No, Drama, the Bowl Cut is Not a Good Look

Hey there, Drama. Look, we've been buddies for a while now, right? I mean, sure, you've made some mistakes but we stuck through them together. I watched Tree of Heaven for you, so you owe me one, right? It's only because I love you so much that I think I can ask this of you: You need to cut your female leads some slack.

I tried to watch Moon River recently - and let's face it, I love me some stupid angst, so I'm probably going to stick it out - but there's definitely something that needs correcting with this show. I can tell you're proud of this one (it's just about different enough from Hana Yori Dango that the author can't sue, nice job) but what you're doing to the female lead isn't fair. Look at this girl. Sure, her ugly haircut and annoying personality are good for a few laughs, if you count oh-my-god-this-thing-is-too-ridiculous-to-survive laughs to be genuine. And of course I'm sure that you'll reimburse me later with one of your makeovers that'll be so gratifying I'll forget how compulsory drama makeovers are offensive to women everywhere. But here's the thing: I want to love my female lead, not laugh at her. Something tells me you just want someone awkward the audience can displace, so they can imagine they're the ones being lovingly watched by the hottest guy in school instead. That just won't do.

  Sorry to burst your bubble, but it is possible to write outgoing or fierce or even lightly dumb female leads who are lovable instead of infuriating. For starters, you could focus on giving them a look that's a little out there - just how you like it - without making them look awful. Let's face it, Drama, the bowl cut doesn't suit anyone. ANYONE. There are far more flattering hairstyles you could go for. Tell you what, I'll send a list of suggestions when we're done here.

  Secondly, you could focus on how they fit into the world. Maybe by, I don't know, giving them any character trait other than 'lovesick'. Yes, I do know we've had this argument before, but you made a second season of Good Morning Call so it's clear you aren't listening to what I'm saying here. I'm not interested in a female lead who measures her worth in the world by how much her boyfriend likes her. I'm not interested in taking a look at successful stalkers who married their poor prey. What I want to see is a girl with ambition, or brains, or interests, or friends and family she'd do anything for, or funny quirks, or depth - or, heck, all of the above! Let's go wild!

  While we're on this note, remember your friend Kim Eun-sook, the writer of Descendants of the Sun and Goblin? I realise the two of you are very close, but have you noticed that she does nothing for her female characters? A lot of writers are guilty of  this - they glorify and develop and pour so much love on their male leads that the female leads are often left on the sidelines. Let's use Goblin as an example: Eun-tak had nothing to do with the most important and melodramatic narrative, so she sat on the sidelines looking cute until the last few episodes. If you're going to write good female leads, and get phenomenal actresses to play them, then at least use them!

Because, come on, it's pretty epic when you do. Remember Healer's Choi Young-shin? She was physically weak, she couldn't fight to save her life, but she was hardly Princess Peach. She still did everything she could to protect others. I'm sure we could use any of Park Min-young's characters as a reference here, actually. Or how about Jo Kang-ja, the one and only Angry Mom? Motherly love has never been so badass! And what about Jang Hye-sung from my beloved I Hear Your Voice? I don't think someone so self-involved and jaded has ever been so perfect. I'm sure we could do this all day, Drama, because you're not beyond hope just yet.

(We can get into the issue of poorly-written second leads some other day.)

Kind regards,

Your Hopeful Fan